1999 Plymouth Breeze from North America - Comments

10th May 2005, 05:13

I totally agree. I have a 1998 Breeze Expresso and it had 62,000 miles on it. In the matter of 7 months, it now has 81,000 miles and I have not had one problem with it other than REGULAR maintenance. People really should learn how to take care of their cars instead of expecting them to run forever without any type of maintenance... basic common sense!!

10th Oct 2005, 12:58

I would like to comment on the last response. I have had my Breeze for five years. When I bought my Breeze, it had 32000 miles on it. I have taken excellent care of my car. But when it reached 103000 miles I started having problems. For the first four years of having my car I drove an average of 150 per month, now I drive 280 in one week. I have replaced the brake drums and rotors. I replaced the speed sensor and now I have a oil leak. I think the old saying "you get what you pay for" is the best comment for this car.

23rd Mar 2006, 14:58

I have just had all the same repairs done in just about the same order. The rear main seal was the most costly for me. I got it used from a dealership. Sometimes we have no control over who takes care of the car before us, but I have found that these things are common for this car. I'm not going to get upset about it though. Things break, and you fix them. I've owned worse cars then this one. I think the days of them making cars that LAST are over.

23rd Mar 2006, 16:30

It sounds like even the people who have had "problems" haven't really had any problems at all. Replacing brakes at over 103,000 miles...wow, lucky you! You don't seriously consider that as anything other than routine maintenance, I hope! And complaining about a few drops of oil from a car with over 100,000 miles that is 10 years old?! Please. Count your lucky stars for having such a dependable car.

12th Mar 2007, 13:45

I got my 1999 Plymouth Breeze second hand and with 68000 KMs on it. Within 3 months, I had to start pouring oil into it at about a liter (quart) a week. Taking it back to the dealer a couple of times finally resulted in them determining that the head gasket had failed because the head warped. Since my previous car was a Pontiac Grand Am with a DOHC 2.8 Ltr Quad Four which also had a warped head, I guess this is a standard problem for these types of engines with aluminum heads.

Then the oil pump quit and the engine ceased. Thanks to extended warranty I didn't have to pay for it out of pocket.

I also have a steering popping noise that I have determined is the tie rod ends. The right one is worse than the left, but both have to be replaced.

The other problem I have had is the front wheel bearings. Since this is all one unit, called the wheel bearing assembly, it can be fairly expensive.

9th Dec 2007, 00:13

I purchased my '99 Breeze in 2002 with 74,000 Kilometers (about 60,000 miles). The next day the interior heater coil went and the dealer replaced it. Not more than 6 months later it went again. I have now replaced it 4 times. Twice at my own expense.

I had all my servicing done by the dealer, who I have to admit was great, but within 6 months I had oil poring out of the back of the engine. The head had warped just enough to open the rearmost oil port. This isn't because I or my wife are speed demons. It just happened. The dealer replaced the head gasket with a new one and shaved the head. When my wife picked up the car to drive it home it was making a horrible racket and she had to have it towed back to the dealer. A main bearing had slipped and cupped itself to its mate then shed steel fillings into the oil pan. The oil pump picked all this up and then seized snapping its chain which is attached to the timing chain. This blew the timing out and voila.. no more engine.

I have had the front brakes replaced twice completely, rotors, pads and calipers and they are still making noise.

Go over any bumps and the front end sounds like it is going to fall off.

13th May 2008, 18:28

I bought my 99 Breeze in 02. It had 45000 miles on it. I got it from my grandparents. I have had very little problems with this car. The speed sensor did go out and that only cost me 85 bucks. I've changed the oil and fluids like you're supposed to, and the brakes have been replaced once. After reading the previous comments I am very surprised at the problems people have had. This car has been the best I've ever owned, it handles great and I couldn't be happier! Honestly, I've wrecked it two times and I had it fixed because I love my car!!

23rd Jun 2010, 14:23

I own a 1999 Plymouth Breeze with 99000 miles on it.

About 2 years ago my mom went to start it, and the timing belt jumped, no big deal right? So wrong. See, the thing with this car is that everything is in such weird places. But other than the timing belt jumping, replacing the brakes and changing the oil, I haven't had to do any maintenance on it.

The only problem now with the car is that it has eaten 2 qts. of oil in the past month. I'm pretty sure I know what caused it though. It's an oil leak from on top of the motor, which either means the head gasket has a problem, or the head gasket valve is bad. The valve seems much more likely, seeing as how we had to use a box cutter to retro-fit it to make it work. We bought a valve from the store, one for the 1999 Plymouth Breeze and everything, but it didn't want to fit right.

Now, I might not be the most mechanically inclined, but with a Chilton's manual and both metric and normal wrenches, I should be able to fix just about anything on this car.

I would also like to say that this is a really nice car, so long as you take care of it. Since my car started leaking oil I've been checking the oil level 3 times a week and keeping an eye on all the other fluids. If you do this you should be alright.

23rd Jun 2010, 15:16

"About 2 years ago my mom went to start it, and the timing belt jumped, no big deal right?"

A timing belt jumping a tooth is a big deal on any car, it won't run right. Valve timing won't be in tune with the movement of the pistons during each stroke, and if the a car has an interference-engine, serious damage can occur.

As for the timing belt being in an awkward spot, well I don't think it really was. Timing belts are usually hard to get to in any car, because they are crucial to an engine running and running correctly. If the motor is transversely-mounted (and I know it is in the Breeze), then the timing belt should be in the same spot as it is on every other car with a transversely-mounted engine, on the front of the engine where the crankshaft pulley is. On pretty much every car out there, the relative design is about the same.